Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-03
DAILY HERALD.
CARTLoADs OF MONEY.
The Geld and silver I'm the United
states Treasury.
fChicauO News


8tases Treasury.
IChicsgo News
Few persons, perhaps, who read the
frequently published reports Of the
fiscal operations of the government
give any consideration to the vastness
and significance of these operations.
It is only when the auriferous contents
of the Treasury vaults are weighed
and measured and placed by the side
Of articles and commodities that are
daily handled by the masses that an
Intelligent comprehension can be OBJ
tanned by the people of the financial
strength of the Treasury and the great
extent of the governments fiscal
operations.
/ find by reference to the latest pub
lished statement of Treasury assets
and liabilities that among the assets
was 1921 ,O96, All in gold and nearly
$3.50, ,OOO, 900 in silver, including 34,-
OOO, 900 of trade dollars and fractional
coins. Taking up this $2S1 900 900 of
gold and placing it on the scales find
that the gold held by the Treasury
weighed $40 tons, and if packed into
ordinary carts, one ton to each cart,
it would make a procession two miles
long, allowing twenty feet of space for
the movement of each horse and cart.
The weighing of the silver produces
much more interesting results. Rum
ming this over the scales, find its
weight to be 1896 tons. Measuring it
in carts, as in the case of the gold, the
silver now held by the Treasury would
require the services of 1896 horses and
carts to transport it, and would make
a procession over twenty-one miles in
length. The surplus about which SO
much is said in the daily newspapers
amounts to nearly $47, ZOO, 900, an in
crease of 5000, 900 since July LIST.
Counted as gold, this surplus would
weigh 86la tons. Counted as silver,
It would weigh 1885 tons. Each mil
lion of gold adds 1856 pounds to the
surplus, and each million of silver
adds $3.50 pounds.
Applying cubic measurement to the
Treasury gold and silver and piling
the two metals on Pennsylvania ave-
nue. as cordwood is piled before deliv-
cry to the purchaser, / find that the
gold would measure thirty-seven cords
and the silver 400 cords, and that both
would extend from the Treasury De-
partment to Four and Half street, or
from the Treasury to the Pension Of
flee in straight line and forming a
solid wall eight feet high and four feet
broad.
Extending these calculations and
comparisons to the interest t-bearing
debt, equally interesting results are
obtained. The public debt reached
the highest point in August, 1866
just twenty-five years ago-when it
was$2, ,381 $50, ,295. The general reader
will better appreciate the vastness of
this sum when informed that it repre-
sents i0,l56 tons of silver, which
would make procession of carts
which would extend from Richmond,
Va, to point twelve miles north of
Philadelphia, the distance it would
thus cover being 266 miles. The in
terest bearing debt is now (not in
cluding the Pacific Railroad bonds)
81, ,OO1 ,976 $50, showing that the sum
paid has been $l,379, ,553 ,445, or more
than one half of the total amount, and
representing 40, ,637 tons of silver dol
lars, which would extend 154 miles if
packed in carts containing one ton
each.
Reducing these figures to basis
where they may be intelligently COM
pretended, and that the rapidity with
which the Government has reduced
it's bonded debt may be fully realized
by the general reader, l find that the
reduction has been at the averaged
rate of $62, ,706,975 each year, s. 5,225,-
581 each month, $174, 1856 each day,
$7,258 each hour and $l20.47 for every
minute of the entire twenty-five years.
Pursuing thic calculation to the small
lest divisible space of time, the bond
ed debt of the United States has been
decreased at the rate OF ~ .00.7 for every
second, or for every swing of the PEN
dulum for the entire period from Aug
ust 81, 1865, to July 81, 1887.